Harris County deputies arrest more than 100 in prostitution sting

Harris County officers lead U.S. in joint effort to detain sex buyers

Deputies from the Harris County Sheriff's Office arrested more than 100 sex buyers in January, surpassing dozens of law enforcement agencies that took part in a nationwide prostitution sting leading up to the Super Bowl.

And the sheriff's office isn't done rounding up prostitution clients, county officials said.

During a Valentine's Day press conference announcing the operation, the office proffered a stern warning to other sex buyers: Expect more arrests and stronger prosecution in prostitution cases, said Capt. Jesse Inocencio, who coordinated the operation.

"This should be a notice for sex buyers out there that you just may find your mug shot on the 5 o'clock news," Inocencio said. "Know that we are getting tough on enforcement and getting tough on prosecution."

'Valentine's Day Massacre'

For the second year in a row, the sheriff's office made the most arrests among 30 U.S. law enforcement agencies participating in the operation, edging out agencies like the New York Police Department and the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department.

The effort, called the National Johns Suppression Initiative, is a movement to shift attention to sex buyers and victims of prostitution. The Harris County Sheriff's Office arrested 103 men arrested on charges of trying to buy sex, and the Houston Police Department arrested 64 men.

"For these guys, it's a Valentine's day massacre of sorts," said Robert Sanborn, CEO of children's safety nonprofit Children at Risk.

Sanborn pointed out the irony of announcing the arrests on a day known for love.

"The Beatles said, 'You can't buy me love,'" Sanborn said. "For these guys, they did feel like they could buy exploitation of young women."

The sting ran from Jan. 7 through Feb. 4 and was coordinated by Illinois' Cook County Sheriff's Office. At least 638 sex buyers were arrested during this year's initiative around the country, the Cook County Sheriff's wrote in a release. Of the more than 600 arrested nationwide, 18 also face human trafficking-related charges.

More stings to come

Harris County Assistant District Attorney Johna Stallings said shifting attention to sex buyers instead of victims of sex trafficking will be accompanied by better and tougher prosecution.

Many sex buyers used to be able to take a class and dismiss the charges, she said.

"No longer – that will be an extreme exception," Stallings said.

Houston's problems in sex trafficking and prostitution seem to stem from high demand, Sanborn said. If that demand can decrease, then sex trafficking will be less of an issue, he said.

"Men feel like in our city, in our county, that they can go out and buy young women," Sanborn said. "But things are changing."

Harris County deputies have tripled the arrests of illegal sex buyers over a three-year period, going from 146 arrests in 2014 to 433 in 2017, the sheriff's office reported Wednesday.

Officials expect to match or improve on that in 2018, Inocencio said. Stings will continue through the year, he said.

Samantha Ketterer is a reporter on the Houston Chronicle’s breaking news team. She joined the staff in 2018 after covering tourism and Galveston City Hall for The Galveston County Daily News.

Samantha graduated from the University of Texas at Austin’s School of Journalism, where she started her reporting career working for The Daily Texan. She later interned for the Houston Chronicle’s metro desk and Austin bureau and was a reporting fellow for the Dallas Morning News’ state bureau.